Mennonites rock my world...

I know, I know... I disappear for a week and suddenly Mennonites?? Honestly, I know next to nothing about Mennonites; it's just that the international guest house that I'm staying at in D.C. right now is run by Mennonite volunteers, and it's very homey and nice. We had tea and cookies at 9p.m. tonight, and chatted with one another and yes, it was lovely.
So, wow... it's been a while. I guess I posted once while on the trail from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., but that was brief and relayed no details whatsoever. However... I have neither the time nor the inclination to fill you in on all the great stories right now. Plus, you know, I have to leave something for the book ;-).
Some highs, then, and some lows, in brief:
I left Pittsburgh last Wednesday. I fell on the trail around 7:30p.m., and scraped and bruised myself up a bit--I still have a huge bruise on my left thigh--but still decided to try to bike 17 miles to the next town. Since it got dark early (with the leafy canopy overhead), I ended up biking for a while in the humid dark. Every time I stopped to look at a map, my glasses fogged up. At one point, a huge insect (I'm assuming...) hit me in the neck. It felt like a bird, but I sort of doubt it. Anyway, that night, I ended up setting up my tent directly on the trail. It was one of my rougher nights.
The next day, I rode over a small mountain to go see Falling Water, a fairly famous Frank Lloyd Wright house. Pretty awesome. That night I hung out with Bob, who was biking from D.C. to Pittsburgh--I think I mentioned that in my last entry.
The following day--we're at Friday now, I believe?--I crossed both the continental divide, putting me officially in the east, and the Mason-Dixon line, putting me officially in the south. That night I stayed in Frostburg, MD, which invovled going up many steep hills. My lasting impression of the town wasn't one of friendliness. As I was walking my bike up the main drag in town, checking the town out, a girl--roughly my age--actually asked me if I had a staring problem. Apparently because I was looking at her side of the street? Elsewhere, my smiles were met in kind, but there, they were seemingly met with suspicion. I also got shouted at in an unfriendly manner by people in passing cars. More than once. I got the distinct impression that it was not cool to be a young woman with very short hair, wearing no makeup, and riding across the country by herself--but maybe I'm being paranoid?
Either way... Saturday I passed through Cumberland, MD, where the Great Allegheny Passage ends, and the C & O Canal towpath begins. I stopped at a farmer's market in town, and a coffeeshop as well. It was a neat little town to pass through. I spent the night at one of the (free!) hike & bike campsites along the C& O with a Girl Scout troop.
Sunday, I biked all day... and spent the night at another of those neat campsites that they had every five to ten miles along the canal... No company that night, though.
Monday, the C & O Canal towpath intersected the Appalachian trail for about 3 miles, and I ended up hanging out with a hiker for a while. Her trail name is Topo, and in addition to the book I'll be writing about my trip, I think I'm going to write a Choose Your Own Adventure story called "The Adventures of Topo and Zem" or maybe just "Topo and Zem," so, stay tuned for that as well.
After she and I parted ways, I got about 3 miles before deciding to take cover under a bridge for a storm. Unfortunately, the storm proved more than the bridge could provide cover for. Luckily, once the storm was over, I found a nice fisherman, who drove me to a motel. Because of the storm, when I got there, the motel had no electricity, and no running water (yeah, it was an intense storm--more details in the book!). So, I went to bed, and some time in the middle of the night, power was restored.
This morning, I got back on the trail. For maybe half a mile, everything was fine. Then there were some tree branches, which I surmounted easily enough... Then some trees... I had crossed, with increasing difficulty, maybe five or six obstacles (trees) on the path, when finally, I got to a stretch of maybe fifteen or twenty feet that was entirely covered in trees and branches. That's when I resigned myself to going back the way I came.
Yet again, nice people came my way, and drove me further down the trail, past the wreckage, which is how I now come to be sitting at this computer, clickity-clackety at the keyboard... pretty ready for bed.
Tomorrow I'm going to check out the D.C. stuff that one should check out, and hopefully have lunch or something with my friend Becka, and then... I'm going to take a train to Philadelphia. Don't be too disappointed--I'm not--It's hot, and I'm ready for a break. But!! Don't worry! There will be more adventures, and more stories--I promise.
I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, be well.